Ronald Reagan? I'll give him some credit for bringing the Cold War to an end and telling the Russians to take down the Berlin Wall. I don't ever recall spending too much time even thinking about his Presidency. I certainly did not support his firing of the FAA air controllers and definitely did not like his economics - I believe they called it "trickle down" - aka Reaganomics.Now I have heroes, but I don't worship them or use their names in every conversation I have. Sen. McCain seems to like using Reagan's name (also Gen. Petraeus) every time he speaks. Sorry, but I find that rather weird. It's like that WWJD expression - "What would Jesus do?" Do Republican conservatives wake up in the morning and say WWRD - What would Ronnie do?" Watching these folks on Fox, I would say they do. And I definitely find that strange.
But let's focus on this whole Reagan "trickle down" thing. It's nonsense. It's why I never liked or supported Reagan. It's why I have trouble with the whole Republican conservative economic agenda. Based on 30 years of business experience, I know, for sure, there is NO "trickle down" - it is all "trickle up."
Since moving down to Florida, I have had the displeasure of working for some of the worst companies and bosses. The men (no women) who ran these organizations were cheap beyond believe, suffered from severe tunnel vision and cared only about themselves and their relatives. Any tax relief or government benefits that were supposed to assist them "manage" their small to medium sized business - on the belief that these entities "drive" the economy by hiring new workers when given economic (tax) breaks - just didn't happen, at all, ever. It sure sounded great, but it was a Republican - Reagan shell game - a ruse.
Let me present to you one example. ABC Manufacturing (not the real name) located in Midwest Florida. Maker of HVAC equipment and building structural metal connectors. Annual sales of about $25 mil. Manager salaries of about $20K. Average hourly wage $6. Remember this is during the Reagan administration, although if this company were still in business today, those figures wouldn't be that much different.
Most of the older "senior" workers on the manufacturing side were eliminated and replaced by the "Mexicans" of the time - Vietnamese. They were paid minimum wage, given no benefits and no overtime - they sure worked overtime, but were not paid overtime. "They" were hired under some kind of government program whereby a portion of their pay and their "travel" to the US was "subsidized" by the Reagan administration.
I recall about 50 of these folks, not being able to speak a word of English, squatting by the pond on the property eating bowls of white rice for lunch. They all wore those "Chinese" straw hats with the large brim to shield them from the oppressive Florida summer heat and humidity. At 6pm a bus would pick them up, take them somewhere, and they would all return en mass in the morning. They wore the same clothes here as they did back in Vietnam.
This business was also the recipient of many of the "other" Republican Conservative Reagan economic programs designed to trickle down benefits to "everyone." And benefit it did, but not the workers or the managers. No new jobs were created. Folks looking for work still collected unemployment. No raises were given. Health insurance remained out of reach for 99% of the employees. And the local economy remained stagnant. I asked for and was denied $.05 cents a hour increases for my warehouse workers.
The intended "trickle" did benefit someone - the owner of the business - and his "family." Clearly nothing was to "trickle" down- it was all to "trickle" up - way up. And the president (the owner) bought a new 50 ft Bayliner boat. And a new luxury car. And one for the wife.
And the wife was built a new office and was paid for a job she never did. And to help her with her phony job came a new computer system, TV and stereo system. And a company gas credit card. The parents of the owner both got (new) luxury cars and a (new) large very spacious office. A (new) home was purchased in addition to a beach front condo for the parents. And while everyone else parked out in the sun on dirt - the owner, his wife and parents got a private covered paved lot with their names on little reserved parking signs, about 50 years from where the Vietnamese ate their bowls of rice.
This is not uncommon everywhere in the US. It is rare to find a business where the owners "trickle down" economic benefits. Because I'm not a cheap SOB, I was deemed a lousy manager. At this particular company, Mrs. Grumpy and I used our own money to give workers in my department "something" for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It wouldn't be the first or last time we would have to do this. We did our own "private" trickling.
I have many more examples. It is painful to recall these situations. When I hear that a Lehman Bros. executive earned $350 mil, it makes me sick. When I hear McCain or worse, Sara Palin, tell us how great Ronald Reagan was, I cringe. He wasn't. And "trickle down" economics is pure bunk.
